1. Field of the Invention
My invention relates generally to the provision of rows of furniture elements or units such as seats through the assembly of individual furniture units such as chairs into a contiguous furniture units to provide, for example, a seating unit comprised of a plurality of furniture units such as chairs that are releasably interconnected to form a rigid permanent row of chairs that may be moved as a unit, or disassembled to individual furniture units such as chairs as required by the occasion.
2. Prior Art
A review of the prior art has disclosed the existence of a plurality of various and sundry arrangements to provide for the ganging interlocking assembly of individual furniture units such as chairs into rows.
One example may be seen in the recent U.S. Pat. No. 4,400,031 issued Aug. 23, 1983 to Edward J. DeDecker for INTERLOCKING CHAIR. In the DeDecker patent, chairs are provided with a sidewardly extending bar on one chair that is configured to be inserted into a sidewardly opening socket on another, adjacent chair, rendering the assemblage and/or the chair itself unduly complicated and unsightly from an aesthetic standpoint.
Another less recent illustration of the prior art is seen in the Mehr et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,614,158 issued Oct. 19, 1971 for CHAIR GANGING DEVICE which illustrates a retractable ganging arrangement that is complex and not particularly suited to maintaining a row of chairs in precise alignment.
An earlier illustration may be seen in the Huntley U.S. Pat. No. 1,198,726 issued Sept. 19, 1916 for SEAT COUPLING. The Huntley patent, again, provides a complex structure that is not particularly well suited for maintaining a precise alignment and cannot provide its function without the presence of additional elements mounted upon, or forming a part of, the chair itself.
Other examples may be seen in the following list of Prior Art patents noted in the course of preliminary search on the invention of this application, none of which are believed to be particularly relevant to my invention:
______________________________________ Patent No. Patentee Issue Date ______________________________________ 4,400,031 E. J. DeDecker August 23, 1983 3,697,130 Barecki et al October 10, 1972 3,695,694 R. G. Mohr October 3, 1972 3,614,158 R. G. Mohr October 19, 1971 3,278,227 D. L. Rowland October 11, 1966 3,159,425 C. J. Engstrom December 1, 1964 3,133,762 W. R. Newman May 19, 1964 3,053,493 J. N. Stafford September 11, 1962 1,198,726 G. M. Huntley September 19, 1916 ______________________________________